


One Simple Idea

by lindseyleewells



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M, Matchmaking, Mistletoe, POV Outsider, Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 13:34:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1094465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lindseyleewells/pseuds/lindseyleewells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Morgan Tookers was not a nosy person. At least, not when there was nothing going on worth nosing into. But when he started noticing Danny and Mindy's increasing interest in each other, he felt he just had to step in. For their own good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Simple Idea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [corleones](https://archiveofourown.org/users/corleones/gifts).



Morgan Tookers was not a nosy person. At least, not when there was nothing going on worth nosing into.

When there was, though? Morgan could sniff it out in an instant. And all bets would be off.

“What are we looking at?” Morgan asked brightly as he walked into Mindy’s office, noticing Danny looking out the window. He knew Danny wasn’t that enthusiastic about the building-wide Christmas party, but he didn’t expect to find him hiding in Mindy’s office by himself. That looked a little silly. “This isn’t your office…”

As soon as Danny heard him, he jumped away from the window, shaking his head. “What? Nothing. Just looking at the lights... wondering if I can fix the gingerbread house, you know…” He trailed off, mumbling nonsense about his gingerbread house. Something about icing foundations, maybe. Truth be told, Morgan wasn’t listening. Danny could be pretty boring sometimes.

Morgan walked over to the window and glanced out at the courtyard, chuckling as he saw Mindy outside in an embrace with Cliff. “Oh man, it’s on for Dr. L and Cliff! I knew he was into her!” Morgan exclaimed, swelling with pride. That pairing was all him. Mindy might have been mad at him for prying into their relationship a couple weeks ago, but it had worked. Why did anyone ever bother questioning Morgan Tookers?

“Yeah, whatever, I guess. It’s no big deal. She’s dated like ten guys in the past month, nothing new. Who cares?” Danny rambled again, trying and failing - as always - to seem nonchalant.

Morgan eyed Danny, trying to read the frown on his face. It wasn’t an unusual expression for Danny, since he rarely smiled, but this was different. He wasn’t frowning because Morgan had said something to annoy him, like he usually did, or because Mindy was being too cheery. He was being different.

He looked like a kicked puppy... and that’s when it finally clicked. There was a weird energy in this room, he’d been right when he busted in here with Peter and Dr. Reed, but it wasn’t the ghost.

“Oh my god, you like Dr. L!” Morgan exclaimed, a huge smile splitting across his face. “You totally like Dr. L!”

Danny’s eyes widened, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to find the right words. His brow furrowed as he shook his head, still gaping in Morgan’s general direction. He would have felt bad for laughing, but he couldn’t help himself. The mix of shock, disgust and denial on his face was priceless. 

“Mindy? And me? What are you talking about? We’re friends.” Danny shrugged, the frown still firmly in place. “She’s nice, but I’d never date anyone that annoying. No way.”

Morgan simply shook his head, not listening to his denial for a second. “Oh man, this is all my fault,” he groaned, resting his head in his hands. “You like Dr. L and I set her up with the best looking guy in the building. You’re never gonna stand a chance with her now! You’re gonna be alone forever.” He sighed heavily. Dr. C’s life was ruined, and it was all his fault.

“Stop it! I don’t like Mindy!” Danny protested, shaking his head. “And come on, the best-looking guy in the building? He’s like… conventionally attractive. No one’s into that.”

“Come on, you’re not fooling anyone,” Morgan said, rolling his eyes. “You’re into Dr. L, and if we don’t get you two kids together soon, you’ll lose your chance.” 

“Morgan, I’m not -”

“Don’t worry, I’m a great matchmaker. I got them together,” Morgan assured Danny, pointing through the window and putting a firm hand on his shoulder. “You’re gonna have to turn on the charm, but we can do this.”

“Don’t you dare,” Danny said, squirming away from Morgan’s touch. “Mindy’s like the last person I would date. I was just admiring the snow.”

Looking Danny over again, Morgan sighed. The look Danny had on his face was the one he always sported when he had to see Tamra with Ray-Ron. He was jealous about Mindy and Cliff, and it was obvious. But if this is the way he wanted to play it, then fine. Morgan could play that game, too.

“Okay, you don’t like Dr. L, my bad.” Morgan finally conceded, holding his hands up in surrender. “I won’t do anything to mess things up.”

“You promise?” Danny asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowed.

“Don’t you trust me? I would never do anything if you told me not to,” Morgan assured Danny, putting his hands down and crossing his fingers behind his back. He’d always tried not to lie, but this was for a good cause. And hey, if he was crossing his fingers, it didn’t even really count as a lie. So it would be fine.

“Fine, I believe you,” Danny grumbled, letting out an exasperated sigh. “Now get outta here.”

Morgan nodded, backing out of the office slowly. “Yep, of course. Merry Christmas, Dr. C!”

After a couple minutes of searching for his coat, Morgan left the party in a hurry. He had a lot of thinking to do, and he wasn’t going to get any of it done if he stayed there. Truth be told, he had absolutely no idea what he was going to do to get Dr. C and Dr. L together - those two were constantly fighting, so it wouldn’t be easy. But he would think of something. Morgan had always liked to think of himself as something of a genius mastermind, and this would be no different.

They might not have known they wanted each other yet, but Morgan knew. And he was going to make it happen.

***

“Hey, Dr. L,” Morgan said with a grin as he popped his head into Mindy’s office, holding up the pink box of a dozen donuts in his hands to ensure she wouldn’t tell him to get out. He’d spent all weekend at the rock quarry trying to come up with a plan, and he finally had the perfect thing. It was foolproof.

“What do you want? Why do you have donuts?” she snapped suspiciously, her eyes narrowed.

Her reaction didn’t exactly surprise him. Ever since sending those innocent - okay, explicit, but he didn’t think that mattered - text messages to Cliff, Mindy had been on edge with him. All he was trying to do was hook a girl up, but apparently that was a problem. And now she didn’t want him hanging around her office. That was where the donuts would come in - he knew they were her favourite.

“What, you don’t want them?” Morgan asked, an eyebrow raised. “I can always go give them to Dr. Reed and they’ll be gone in, like, five minutes.”

Mindy eyed him up and down before her eyes returned to the box in his hand. “What kind are they?” she asked, and Morgan knew he had her.

“Boston cream - your favourite,” he announced proudly, stepping into the office and opening the box, setting them down on the desk in front of her. He watched as Mindy eyed them for a second before picking one out and taking a bite. 

Jackpot. 

“What do you want, Morgan?” Mindy repeated, though her voice had a hint of its usual Mindy cheer to it this time. “The last time you bought me donuts, you wanted me to forgive you for the whole Cliff thing. And I still haven’t… I could have died of embarrassment from that, Morgan. Actually died.”

Morgan let out an exasperated sigh. Oh, Dr L, always so overdramatic. “But now you’re together, so you can’t be mad at me anymore! I got the ball rolling on that. You should be thanking me,” he told her matter-of-factly, a proud smile on his lips.

“How did you know we were together now?! Were you spying on us? That was an intimate moment!” Mindy cried, taking another bite of her donut as she narrowed her eyes in Morgan’s direction. She did not, however, put the donut down. Morgan noticed that.

“You spent all weekend tweeting about how well your mantrap worked,” Morgan reminded her. He conveniently left out the part where he had, in fact, been spying on her. What she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

“Oh. Right,” Mindy smiled sheepishly. Then she grinned. “But Morgan, you were so right - we’re so perfect together! We spent all weekend at his apartment -”

“Yeah, I don’t care,” Morgan cut her off, reaching out and putting a finger to her lips. Ignoring the taken-aback look on her face, he barrelled on. “You’re not perfect together. I think there’s someone in this building that’s better for you. You should break it off with Cliff before it’s too late.”

She didn’t even bother restraining herself as she rolled her eyes, pushing his hand away. “Morgan, what are you talking about? You’d better not be talking about Brendan. I know you like the Deslauriers, but you’re the only one.”

“No, I’m talking about Dr. C!” 

“Dr. C, like Danny Castellano? Danny Castellano that works here?” Mindy asked, her eyebrows shooting up. “Why do people keep bringing this up? How many times do I have to tell people that I’m not into his weird body? If I had to choose between dating him and dying, I’d die, probably.”

“I saw the way you were looking at him at the party when we all barged in here. You can’t deny it, Dr. L.” Morgan looked at her hopefully, wondering if maybe she’d just agree with him. He might have been willing to pull out all the stops to get those two crazy kids together, but the less work he had to put into it, the better. He was a busy guy, after all.

Unfortunately, the unamused look on Mindy’s face meant he still had his work cut out for him. “I could never date Danny. I need someone that’s going to spend lots of money on me, and for Christmas he got me medical gauze. And a stapler.”

“Damn it, Dr. C,” Morgan groaned. The doctors he worked with were supposed to be smart, but he rarely saw any signs of that. This was going to be harder than he thought, but Morgan wasn’t going to let that stop him. He had his reputation as a matchmaker at stake. 

“Fine,” he shrugged, getting up and walking towards the door. “Make your mistake, keep dating Cliff. By the way, I’m having my own party tomorrow night - work people only. Can you come?”

“Will there be wine? I’m not going to another dry Christmas party. That’s not the way the holidays are supposed to be celebrated.” After Morgan promised that there would indeed be plenty of wine at the party, Mindy sighed. “Okay, I’ll be there.”

“Seven o’clock sharp,” Morgan told her, waiting for her nod of confirmation before leaving her office.

Phase one complete.

***

After bustling around the office and doing some orderly duties - actually pretending he did work while he was here, Morgan went to Danny’s office, popping his head inside the door. “Dr. C, I’m having a Christmas party tomorrow night and you have to be there.”

Exactly as he expected, Danny groaned. “I already did one Christmas party this year. That’s my limit.”

Morgan sighed, exasperated with these two already. Why did they have to make his life so difficult? They were both so stubborn, they really did belong together. “It’s for the whole office. Non-optional. We need you to make the gingerbread house.”

“How does your personal Christmas party become non-optional?”

“We need you to make the gingerbread house!”

After eyeing Morgan suspiciously, Danny finally caved. “Fine… but we’re keeping it away from Jeremy this time. Gingerbread houses are masterpieces - they’re not for eating!” His jaw was set, clearly decided that if someone was even going to entertain the idea of eating his gingerbread house, he wasn’t going to show up.

“Fine, whatever. Be at my place at seven.”

“ _Your_ place?” Danny groaned. “You want us to go to your place? I don’t trust it. Can’t you get Mindy to host it? She loves that crap.”

“I set the puppies up with play dates so they won’t be there. It’ll be fine,” Morgan said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. And really, it was. What else did Danny think he was going to do with the puppies? “Just be there at seven!” He gave Danny a warning look before retreating from his office and closing the door behind him.

Danny always put up a fight when it came to social activities, but Morgan knew he would show up. Especially if he got to bring a gingerbread house. Things might get complicated later on, but he’d deal with that when the time came. For right now, he didn’t have to worry about either one of them. 

Part two of his plan was in motion.

***

The party was in full swing, and for the most part Morgan couldn’t be happier. Everyone from Schulman and Associates was under his roof, and he was determined to make sure the second part of his plan went smoothly. There was mistletoe hung in just about every doorway in the house, and he'd provided so much wine that there was no way things could be any less than perfect.

The only problem was, the party had been going for two hours, and Danny and Mindy had been as far away from each other as they could get all night.

Mindy was on her third glass of wine, loudly telling anyone who would listen about her relationship with Cliff, while cautiously eyeing Danny from across the room. Danny, on the other hand, was sneaking peeks at her when he wasn’t showing off his newest Gingerbread masterpiece, telling everyone who dared come near him about how he'd created the White House. Not that anyone actually cared.

Despite the fact that both doctors seemed to be glancing at each other when the other one wasn't looking, Morgan didn't think that was good enough. He needed to speed things up. What was the point in having a party if they were going to act like fifth graders with crushes, too shy to go up to each other and ask each other out?

And they called him immature.

When Mindy drained her glass of wine and went off in search of another, she paused in one corner of the room, admiring a painting on Morgan’s wall. She was still for more than a few moments, and Morgan grinned. She was standing directly beneath a sprig of mistletoe he’d placed there earlier in the day.

Perfect.

"Hey Dr. C, why don't you come talk to me over here?" Morgan suggested. Before Danny could react, he grabbed Danny's shoulders and began leading him firmly across the room.

Danny started wriggling his arms, trying and failing to get out of Morgan's grip. "Why do we have to talk over here?" he asked, frowning as he looked over his shoulder at Morgan. "I was keeping an eye on my Gingerbread House. I told you, I'm not letting this one get destroyed!"

"Calm down, you can still see it from the other side of the room." Morgan rolled his eyes. What kind of grown man obsessed about Gingerbread houses, anyway? And Danny tried to pretend he was the cool one.

Morgan steered Danny through the crowd until he was standing in front of Mindy, suddenly taking his hands off the doctor's shoulders. Danny stumbled a little from being released, and Mindy raised her eyebrows at the two of them.

“What’s your problem?” she asked them.

"Oh, look who's under the mistletoe!" Morgan cried out, loud enough to get everyone's attention. He took a step away from the two as everyone in the room began to chuckle and murmur, and both Danny and Mindy looked upwards in horror.

"Ew, gross, Morgan. Why is there mistletoe?" Mindy cried, shooting a glare Morgan's way.

"I'm not kissing her," Danny protested at the same time, stepping back with his palms up.

But the public attention had worked exactly as Morgan had hoped it would. Their protests were drowned out as Peter started chanting, "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" from the other side of the room. Soon Betsy, Jeremy, Tamra, and the rest of the office had joined in, and everyone's eyes were turned on Danny and Mindy.

"Maybe we should..." Danny suggested after a minute, giving Mindy a tentative smile. “I mean, just to shut them up.”

Mindy hesitated as she looked him up and down, finally sighing and pointing a stern finger towards Danny. "Keep your hands to yourself," she warned, and leaned in to peck him softly on the lips. It was over in a second, a blink-and-you’d-miss-it kind of kiss, and Morgan couldn’t help but frown. That was so not what he’d pictured.

"There, we kissed!" Mindy announced to the room proudly. “Happy?”

“You call that a kiss?” Peter scoffed, booing them loudly. “Kiss him again!” 

The entire room started chanting again, and all Danny and Mindy could do was look each other up and down, trying to plan their next move. Mindy was fidgeting with the charm around her neck, and Danny licked his lips, pressing them together. They shuffled closer to each other awkwardly, the chants getting louder the longer they stalled.

“D’you think we should…” Mindy murmured softly, and Morgan knew that if he wasn’t standing as close to them as he was, he wouldn’t have been able to hear her. That’s why he loved fixing people up - the front row seat to the whole thing was well worth it.

“I mean…” Danny hesitated.

“Only if you want to!” Mindy said quickly.

The two stared at each other in silence, the chanting from the crowd starting to get a little disjointed as it died down. It seemed like most people only cared if it was going to be funny, and they’d had their chance to laugh.

But then, just when Morgan thought he might have to give up and go back to the drawing board -

“Fuck it.” 

Danny reached out to rest his hands on Mindy’s hips and pull her closer. He held her flush against him, his lips crashing against hers as he kissed her deeply. Mindy tensed in his arms for a moment, her eyes wide, but she melted into his touch almost immediately. Her arms wrapped around his neck as his hand slid around to the back of her neck, all the pent up confusion, intrigue and passion from the past few months pouring into the kiss.

And Morgan beamed at them, proud as a peacock.

Everyone went silent for a moment, a little stunned, before Betty giggled nervously and the room erupted in cheers and catcalls. 

The cheers snapped Danny and Mindy out of it, and after another second, they broke apart and backed away from each other, both of them smiling sheepishly.

"That was... um..." Danny cleared his throat, shifting from one foot to another.

"I think I need a drink," Mindy muttered, her cheeks flushed pink as she pushed through the crowd around them.

Danny looked at everyone for a second, shooting Morgan a dirty look before rushing in the opposite direction. Morgan could feel it - everything he’d worked for, everything he’d put together so nicely, crumbling around him.

"Oh no," Morgan groaned softly as he looked back and forth between where the two of them had vanished. As much as he’d thought he was helping, as hard as he’d tried to do the right thing… he had a funny feeling he’d just made everything a whole lot worse.

***

Morgan could admit when he made a mistake. It didn't happen often - okay, it happened all the time - but when it did, he was determined to do everything he could to make it better. He mingled a bit longer, wanting to give both Danny and Mindy time to cool off, but he knew that couldn’t last forever. He had to find them and apologize.

After searching every nook and cranny of his house and discovering that they weren't inside, he slipped out to the front porch, wondering if they’d gone home. He didn’t have to look far - they were in the middle of the street, Danny's coat around her shoulders, clearly in the middle of a discussion. He took a couple steps forward, down onto the front walk, hoping that things had smoothed out between the two of them. And if they hadn’t, maybe he could mediate. But when he heard Danny’s raised voice, he hesitated.

"They were telling us to kiss!" Danny cried, shoving his hands in his pockets and shrugging. "It was just a kiss - it's no big deal."

"No big deal?" Mindy repeated, her voice going shrill. "That didn't feel like no big deal! Did you _want_ to kiss me?"

Danny dropped his gaze suddenly, shifting from foot to foot. Morgan thought he looked nervous. "I don't know,” Danny said finally. “I guess I've thought about it.”

"What?" Mindy cried, her eyes going wide. "You said you had lamp-like feelings for me!"

"Yeah, well you wanted to kiss me too!" Danny retorted defensively, sounding a bit like a kid in a school yard.

"I did not!"

"You're the one that invited me out to the balcony after you drank all your bra wine at the office party!" he reminded her, and Morgan's eyes widened. He definitely didn't know about that. What had happened at that party?

Mindy hesitated for a second, biting her lip. "You danced to Aaliyah, I was confused," she said finally. "Besides, you turned me down."

"I shouldn't have,” Danny said quietly. His gaze was right on hers, and even though Morgan was fifteen feet away, he could feel the tension between them. He didn’t dare move a muscle - the last thing he wanted was for them to notice him and stop talking to each other.

Finally, Mindy shook her head and took a couple steps backwards.

"I'm with Cliff.”

"Do you want to be?" Danny asked.

Mindy pressed her lips together, and Morgan thought she might be about to cry. She shook her head again, blinking as if to clear her head. When she sighed this time, she sounded as if she’d steeled herself. 

"I need to go. And I'm keeping your coat."

And then she turned and headed off down the road towards her car.

Danny stood, staring after her as if in a daze. Morgan ran a hand through his hair, exhaling quietly. Clearly there was a lot going on that both of them had failed to tell him - that was information that might’ve been helpful back when he’d started his plan. Maybe he should have consulted Danny a little bit on that one, first. 

Suddenly Danny turned towards him, and Morgan panicked, trying to duck out of sight. The last thing he wanted was for Danny to catch him eavesdropping! But unfortunately he wasn’t as quick as he’d hoped - Danny pointed a finger at him and started towards him. 

"I told you not to mess with us!" Danny said.

“I was trying to help!”

“Some help you are,” Danny muttered, crossing his arms. 

"Well I was right, wasn't I? You like Dr. L!" Morgan said, since it was really his only defence. Maybe he shouldn't have meddled, maybe he should have thought things through a little more, but it was too late for that now.

Now all he could do was apologize and maybe, just maybe, try and fix things.

"Well, now it's all messed up! And it's all your fault," Danny retorted angrily, his eyes narrowed as he looked at Morgan.

"Look, I'm sorry. I messed things up. But since it's already messed up... maybe we can fix it," he suggested, smiling hopefully.

Danny blinked at him. “You want to fix it. Your meddling doesn’t work, and now you want to meddle more.”

“It can’t get any worse, right?”

"That's the worst idea I've ever heard." Danny shook his head, stepping forward to brush past Morgan and head inside.

"Wait!" Morgan cried, putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Just listen to me. You need her to forgive you, don't you, Dr. C?"

Danny hesitated for a minute, eyeing Morgan warily. “It’d be nice. Although it’s going to be a challenge now, thanks very much.”

“Then let me help!” Morgan said. “I’ll run everything by you first. No surprises, I promise.” 

Danny folded his arms. “Why on earth should I let you help?”

“Because I think you guys could make each other happy.”

Danny sighed, his gaze scrutinizing Morgan closely. He was clearly weighing the good and the bad, wondering whether Morgan’s creativity and enthusiasm might make up for his past errors in judgement. Since he'd messed up pretty badly with his mistletoe idea, Morgan could understand why Danny was hesitating. But he hoped he’d agree. At the end of the day, Morgan really did just want to help. 

Finally, Danny nodded.

Morgan’s face split into a wide grin. "You are not going to regret this! I have so many ideas already!" Morgan cried, feeling his energy ramp right back up, but Danny clamped a hand down on his shoulder.

“Nothing insane,” Danny told him firmly. “Nothing that’s going to make her more mad at me than she already is. I get final say on everything we do, or we're not doing this.” He raised his eyebrows, holding out a hand. Morgan shook it, still beaming.

"Deal." Morgan draped an arm around Danny's shoulders as he lead him back into the party. He should probably break up the party right then and there, Morgan thought. They had work to do.

***

The next two weeks at the hospital aren't exactly the success that Morgan had been hoping for. He'd always considered himself to be incredibly clever when he needed to be, cunning and able to come up with the most brilliant plans in a second, but he was starting to doubt his skills as a matchmaker. It seemed like no matter what he came up with, Mindy just kept on rejecting Danny and going home with Cliff. She shake her head sadly and head off to Cliff’s office, and Danny would get this dejected look on his face. It was lucky Danny had Morgan around at all, Morgan thought. He’d have given up on the first day if he didn’t have Morgan’s help.

Locking the two of them in a closet together hadn't seemed to work, and she'd been unimpressed by the seasons of Real Housewives he'd left on her desk - even though he was pretty sure she'd taken them home to watch anyway. He'd had Danny bake her cookies, but apparently he wasn’t so hot around a spatula. Or that was the vibe he got when Mindy spit them out and proceeded to blame the two of them for trying to kill her. They were at the point where Morgan had actually considered trying the old Cyrano de Bergerac plan, but Danny had hit him across the back of the head with a magazine and told him not to be stupid. So Morgan was trying very, very hard to come up with ideas that Danny wouldn't consider stupid.

And Morgan just didn’t get it. He knew that Mindy didn’t find Danny as repulsive as she let on, and he also knew that Mindy’s only real interest in Cliff was the guy’s looks. She barely knew him - not like she knew Danny. And she certainly didn’t care for him like she cared for Danny. Because when Morgan saw Mindy alone, when she was walking through the halls to her next patient or having her lunch in the break room, he saw the way her eyes strayed towards Danny. He saw the way she’d tune in to his presence the second he entered a room. He’d never seen two people more in love with each other. So why were none of his plans working?

Were they really not as good as he’d thought?

And then, one morning on his way in to work, it came to him. The perfect plan.

Karaoke.

"I don't do karaoke," Danny said immediately, shaking his head as Morgan set up the machine by the nurse's desk.

Morgan sighed, looking up from the microphone he was plugging in. "Do you want to win her over or not? Mindy’s crazy about romantic comedies, and they always do this in movies. She loves this kind of stuff!"

"I don't sing," Danny told him firmly, crossing his arms in defiance.

"Look,” Morgan said. “It’s been two weeks since the party. We’ve tried everything, and nothing’s worked. You certainly weren’t making any headway before I came along.”

“And you call this constant rejection ‘headway’?”

Morgan sighed. “If you don't want my help, I can leave you to figure out a plan yourself. Good luck with that, by the way." Without batting an eye, he turned back to the karaoke machine. He knew Dr. C would come around eventually. He cared about Mindy that much.

Danny hesitated for a minute, biting his lip as struggled with the thought of letting the whole office hear him sing. Then, with a groan, he scrubbed a hand over his face. "Fine. What am I singing?"

Morgan knew he’d do it.

"A classic!" Morgan announced proudly, picking up the cd from the desk and showing it to him. "’I Will Always Love You’ by Whitney Houston."

"Are you kidding me?" Danny groaned, taking the cd from Morgan and throwing it back on the desk. "You couldn't come up with anything better than that?"

“Do you know the song?”

“I - well -”

“Perfect.” Ignoring him completely, Morgan turned on the microphone and tapped it to make sure it was working. "Hey everybody!" he called, grinning as people paused and turned towards him. "Dr. C is gonna put on a little show. Dr. L? Dr. L, come here. We need you upfront and centre."

Mindy hesitated in the doorway off her office, clearly exhausted from their hijinks from the past two weeks. “Danny, what are you _doing_?”

Danny sighed, looking at her imploringly. “Please, Mindy?”

Morgan really had to applaud Danny’s puppy-dog eyes, because Mindy finally shrugged and moved forwards, joining the crowd in front of Danny and the karaoke machine. “This better not be terrible,” she said, crossing her arms. But that’s when Morgan spotted it - a little smile tugging at the corners of her lips. A smile that, if he wasn’t mistaken, looked pretty damn fond.

Oh, it was on.

Beaming, Morgan handed Danny the mic and turned on the song. "It's all you!" he said, backing away. He was excited to see how this was going to work out. If this didn't win Mindy over, he might just have to give up and throw in the towel as a professional matchmaker.

Danny cleared his throat nervously as the opening bars of the music started to play, shuffling from foot to foot. As the words lit up on screen, Danny started singing - or what could _technically_ be called singing. His voice was quiet and his gaze was on the floor as he mumbled his way through the first couple lines of the song.

"I can't hear you!" Jeremy heckled, clearly delighted by the show.

Danny shot Jeremy a death glare, tripping over the next few words.

And then, Mindy giggled. “You can do it, Danny!” she cheered, clearly tickled, and Morgan grinned at the way Danny’s face lit up. He straightened his posture, planted his feet, and the next thing Morgan knew, he was belting out the chorus.

And not terribly, either. 

As the second verse started flashing by on the tv screen, Danny sighed and threw down the mic. "Okay, I'm not gonna do this anymore. This song kind of sucks.”

“It doesn’t suck!” Mindy cried. “You sounded good!”

“I like you, Mindy."

"Like?" Morgan repeated, shaking his head. He really was dealing with a bunch of fifth-graders here. He cleared his throat insistently, raising his eyebrows pointedly in Danny’s direction. Throwing around wishy-washy words like "like" weren't going to get him anywhere.

"Fine, love, okay? I love you, Mindy!" Danny blurted out, throwing up his hands in exasperation.

The whole room went silent. Mindy blinked at Danny, obviously a little stunned, but Morgan felt proud. He could tell that confessions of love weren't exactly Danny’s thing, and he wasn't really doing a great job of it. But he was trying. He was really trying.

Morgan just hoped that would be enough. 

Slowly, Mindy stepped forward. "You love me?" she asked. Her face was unreadable, eyes locked right on to Danny’s.

"Yeah," Danny nodded, setting down the microphone. “Look, I’m done with all the gimmicks and the plans. It kills me to see you with Cliff, all right? It kills me to see you with any guy, because I want to be that guy for you. I want you to look at me that way.”

Mindy bit her lip, staring at Danny for a second. Then, slowly, a smile began to creep over her face. She stepped forward again, closing the distance between them. “Look at you like this?” she asked quietly. And then she grabbed onto the front of his shirt, pulling him close and pressing her lips eagerly against his.

The room erupted in cheers, and Morgan couldn't help but grin as he heard Betsy claiming she knew all along that they belonged together. Peter was catcalling and Beverly was making the most inappropriate honeymoon jokes he’d ever heard, and Morgan didn’t think he’d ever been happier.

When the two broke apart, Mindy giggled again. “You’re ridiculous, Danny Castellano.”

Danny was beaming. “What about Cliff?” 

Mindy winked. “Cliff who?”

And she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him eagerly again.

"I did that!" Morgan called out to the room proudly, pointing at Danny and Mindy. He felt like jumping up and down. "I made that happen!"

"Yeah, you did," Danny said as he pulled away from Mindy. He rolled his eyes. "You’re crazy, but… you’re the best. Thanks, buddy."

"I know,” Morgan said, puffing his chest out a little.

“And hey, Morgan?” Mindy said.

“Yeah?”

“Don't ever do it again." But she was still grinning, and when Danny pulled her in for another kiss, she laughed against his mouth, sliding her fingers into his hair.

Morgan nodded, smiling affectionately at them both as he moved around them to take down the karaoke machine. There had been a lot of ups and downs, getting Mindy and Danny together, and not all of them had been particularly fun. But those didn’t matter - not in the long run. Because Mindy and Danny were happy - they were together where they belonged. It was another success for Morgan Tookers, matchmaking king.

And he couldn’t wait to find out who would be next.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Yuletide, corleones! I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Thanks to J. for the fantastic beta.


End file.
